King Kobra- Ready to strike

I am way behind with my reviews because I actually need to do two this month to make up for missing one in August. I will do Motley Crue-Theater of pain this month, but I just need to find time to sit down and listen to it because I only have it on lp. So for now I am going to review King Kobra first. Yes, I know you are saying "who?"

Background-
This was the debut from veteran drummer Carmine Appice's band. Appice got kicked out of Ozzy's band and started this band with Earl Slick. They hired a singer named Mark Free and recorded a demo. The demo got them a record deal, but Slick pulled out. Appice was able to put together the rest of the band with local guys in LA. Bass player Johnny Rod later went to Wasp. Guitarist Mick Sweda formed the Bulletboys with Lonnie Vincent and Marc Torien who were also in King Kobra in 1986. The other guitarist David Michael Phillips later played with Lizzy Borden and guitarist Alex Masi. Singer Mark Free would later go on to Signal and Unruly Child and after that he had a sex change and has recorded albums as Marci Free.
I first bought Ready to strike on tape back in the summer of 1985. I had not heard anything by them prior to buying it yet they looked like a metal band and I liked the cover so I bought it. I thought it was a strong album and I actually played it a lot back then. I think my tape broke about a year later due to a crappy tape player that ate several good tapes back then. I remembered Ready to strike and bought it on cd maybe three years ago.

The review
The album opens with the title track and it's medium paced song, but it's really smooth. It's not a pounding kind of song, but just very steady and sharp. Next up is Hunger which is slower and definitely a song where it feels like they are hoping you will sing along with them. It's not an outstanding song and at this point you realize the lyrics are nothing special yet Mark Free is such a good singer that the lyrics don't matter that much. Track three is Shadow Rider which is slower than the previous tracks yet maybe the heaviest song so far. The music is very standard fare even in 1985 yet still enjoyable enough. Shake up is a slightly faster entry that tries to tie -in very generic anthem style lyrics. Not as solid as I would have liked, but I do appreciate the change in pace from the previous songs. The fifth song is Attention which is similar in style to Shake-up because it's a simple anthem about the same speed yet it's a much more fluid song. Not outstanding, but enjoyable and it just has a feel like the band really had this one together. Now we move on to the second half of the album. Breakin' out starts things off in good fashion. I am not sure if this is my favorite song on the album, but it's certainly up there. Once more it has simple anthem like lyrics yet the vocals really sell it. The other thing about it is the guitar solo, it's not flashy yet the tones that are used really make it stand out. After this we have Tough Guys which is not bad but probably weaker than the others because it's just a little too syrupy and maybe a minute and a half too long. Dancing with desire may be the slowest song on the album, but again it flows along well without overstaying it's welcome. The problem I have with some 80's hard rock ballads is that the music is sometimes just way too far in the background. That's not the case here as the music is right there with the vocals so it helps to give it a more even sound. Second thoughts has some strong rhythms and it may be overall the tightest song on the album. Last song is Piece of the rock which overcomes okay lyrics just due to the music being very solid and again some fine vocals. So the album ends and just about all of the songs are good to very good.

Final Word
Overall I think it's a solid 80's hard rock album. The lyrics are dated and if that bothers you then you are probably not going to appreciate this album. If cheesy lyrics don't bother you and you listen beyond that then I think it's solid both musically and vocally. However, the lyrics and some of the very typical chorus patterns do tend to date it a little. I think Mark Free had a really strong voice and the rest of the band were maybe not all standouts, but they were solid and sounded well together. Those are the reasons I think this is a better album than say Ratt's Invasion of your privacy or Dokken's Under lock and key. Both those other albums came out the same year and were far more popular, but I find King Kobra to be more memorable overall.
King Kobra did a second album called Thrill of a lifetime in 1986 and it sounds more like Survivor meets Journey. Appice said the record label insisted on the change in sound. After that the band went through some line-up changes and lost their major label record deal. Appice and Phillips added other members and did a third album called King Kobra 3. It was more a hard rock album than the second one, but not nearly as good as their debut. They also did a reunion album of sorts in 1999 called Hollywood trash. Only Appice and Sweda returned from the original line-up and I will warn to stay away from this album at all costs. Although it does have some early demo tracks with Mark Free singing which are decent. There was also an album of outtakes and demos called the Lost Years which I have never heard.
So there is another review for you to feast upon and now maybe you wont' say "who?" when someone says King Kobra. Although it's doubtful that anyone except me will be talking about King Kobra.